Method of manufacturing composite vehicle wheels



Nov. 17, 1925. 1,561,765

' H. N.v ATWOOD METHOD OF MANUFACTURING COMPOSITE VEHICLE WHEELS Oxliginal Filed Aug?. 23. 1923 '2 Sheets-Sheet l Nov. 17,1925

H` N. ATWOOD 'METHOD OF MANUFACTURING COMPOSITEVE'HICLE WHEELS YOuriginal Filed A.ug. 23. 1923 `2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented ov .'"17, 1925.

LAWRENCE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

l HARRY N. ATWOOD, OF MONSON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO RUBWOOD, INC., OF

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING COMPOSITE VEHICLE .WHEELS i Application filed August 23, 1923, Serial No. 658,945. Renewed February 11, 1925.

To LU whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HARRY N.' A'rwoon,

acitizen of the United States, residing at Monson, in the county of -Hampden `and State of Massachusetts, have inventedcerj tain new and useful Improvements in Methods of lVIanufacturing Composite Vehicle Wheels, of which the following is aV specification. l

This invention relates to a `method of manufacturing composite vehicley wheels.

The term wheel as ordinarily employed in the art comprehends a structure built up of a number of elements assembled and held together in various ways. F or example,

- the wood 'spoke wheel or wood artillery wheel, as this type is commonly known,

comprises an assemblage of solid wood spokes which radiate from a liub and which are held in their assembled relation by a felloe about which is adapted to be applied a metal rim and to which rim is fitted a Vpneumatic tire casing, or a solid` rubber tread. In another type, namely the wood disc wheel, the body of the wheel is made up 'of plies of wood facially bonded to each other, and the body is equipped with a rim, a hub andl other appurtenances required to lcomplete the structure. In a similar type ofwheel the body is of sheet metal. It is evident therefore that an ideal wheel structure would be one in which all component parts possess like qualities and physical characteristics and in which all of the coniponent parts would be so united and bonded togethery that the wheel would constitute an integral whole, suoli component parts serv-v ing' the equivalent purposes or the usual ,felloe, rim, and cushioning tread. .4Q

Such a wheel is disclosed 1n my eo-peiiding application led August 23, 1923, Serial No.,

ture; 'In producing each of these sections 2, a number of plies 3 ofv veneer or other similar' fibrous material suitable for the purpose are eut to therequired circular form and are alternately arranged with bonding plies 4 of soft rubber in an uncured or semicured4 state, or the plies. 4 may be of rubberizedfabric or of a composition of rubber and other materials. After the plies have been assembled the assemblage iS subjected to heat and pressure in asuitable form so "as to impart a predetermined permanent' shape thereto, and in this operation the peripheral portions of the two sections are outwardly dish'ed to provide thewalls 5 of a pneumatic chamber 6 which is present in the completed wheel. In this step of the method, the plies becomeintimately bonded so that each section, when taken from the vulcanizing apparatus, is of a uniform composite structure. the bonding plies 4 be of a diameter greater than that of the body plies 2 so that the' peripheral portions of the said plies 4 will project beyond the peripheries of the discs or plies 3 as indicated by the numeral 7 and as clearlyshown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

The next step in the operation consists in interlaying these projecting portions of the plies 4, or in other words folding them upon themselves and upon one another until a rounded cushioning and protecting shoulder -S isv produced at the periphery of eachY section 2 as shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. A facing sheet or ply 9 of rubberized fabric or the like is then applied y It is preferable that to the outer face of each section and worked over theperipheral shoulder 8 and to position against the inner face of the respective section, and after these facing plies have been suitably arranged in position, the two sections are assembled with their mid portions faeeto face as shown in Figures 1 and 2 and, in any suitable manner, held in this position while soft unc'ured rubber 10 is filled into the space between the diverging inner faces of the dished portions 5 of the wheel'body. At the same time, or subsequently, an inner tube 11 is arranged within the chamber 6 as shown in Fig-ure 2, and fillings 12 of soft uncured rubber are packed into the' angle between the outer side yof the tube and the peripheral portions of the walls 5 of the chamber and the said shoulders 8. The -iillings' 12. may extend only at the'opposite sides of the tube11 as shown in Figure 2 vor completely over the "side of thev tube. which is presented nextv 4 ter of choice to the tread of the wheel,

In carrying' out the next step of the method, a number of plies 13 of rubberized fabric are superimposed, and the foundation thus is disposed circumferentially about the wheel body produced in accordance with the previously described steps in the method.

- This .foundation has its lateral portions arranged to lie against the outer faces of the walls 5 of the pneumatic chamber 6, and adjacent these portions the foundation extends over the rounded shoulders 8 with its intermediate portion extending between the .said shoulders and closing' the outer side of the chamber 6. A mass of soft rubber- Havin thus described the invention, what is claiine as new is:

1. The method of manufacturing a comi osite` wheel structure which comprises building up a body structure of body and bonding plies and shaping the peripheral portions of the plies to provide a peripheralchamber about the body, providing .a cushioning air pocket in the chamber, and building up a tread upon the assemblage thus formed closing the outer side of the chamber and adapted to bc sustained by the air` pocket. v

2. The vmethod of manufacturing a composite wheel structure which comprises uildingrup a body structure of body and bonding plies and shaping the peripheral f portions of the plies to provide a peripheral chamber about the body structure, applying fillin of yieldable material Within the cham er to define wall surfaces of a contour to accommodate apneumatic tube, and building up a tread upon the assemblage thus formed closing the outer side of the chamber and at its intermediate portion spanning the same.

3. .The method of manufacturing a composite wheel structure which comprises building up a body structure of body and bonding plies, arranging the said bonding plies so that their peripheral portions will project this being a matincirca beyond the peripheries "of the body plies, shaping the peripheral vportions of the assemblages ofplies to lprovide av peripheral chamber, arranging'the projecting peripheral portions of the bonding plies to provide cushioning and protecting shouldersat'rfthe peripheries of the walls of the chambe/nand n building up a tread extending between/theL walls across the outer side ofthe chai'nbe'r.- and sustained by said walls.-` y

1. The method of manufacturing `a 'conposite wheel structure which, comprises building up a body structure of bodyand bonding plies, arranging the saidv bonding plies so that ltheir peripheral portions will project beyond the peripheries of thev body plies, shaping the peripheral portions. of the assemblages ofy pliesto provide a peripheral chamber, arranging the projecting peripheral portions of the bonding plies to provide l cushioning and protecting shoulders at the peripheries of the walls of the chamber, applying a foundation of substantially` nonstretching material about the body stn e are closing the outer side of the chamber, u iiting the foundation to the walls of said chamber, and building up a yieldable tread body upon said foundation.

5. The method of manufacturing a composite wheel structure which comprises building up a body structure of body plies of resilient material and bonding plies of Y rubber material and shaping the peripheral portions of the plies to provide a peripheral chamber about the body structure, arranging a foundation about the bodv Structure of rubberized material and positioning the lsame with its lateral portions extending over the margins of the walls of the chamber and beside the outer faces of said walls, building up a tread body of rubber material upon the foundation, and subjecting the whole to a process of vulcanization whereby to effect.

intimate bonding and integral union of the several component parts.

j 6- The method of manufacturing a composite wheel structure which comprises assembling. a plurality of alternately arranged plies of body material and plies of rubber bonding material with the bond plies projecting peripherally beyond the body plies, subjecting the assemblage to heat and prese sure and simultaneously shaping the same to effect dishing of its peripheral portion, ar ranging the projecting portions of the bonding plies over the periphery of the assemblage as a whole to provide a cushioning shoulder, disposing two of the assemblages together so that the dished peripheral portions will provide between them a chamber`r building a tread over the outer side of thc chamber, and subjecting the whole to a process ofvulcanization to eifect intimate bonding of the component elements. 7, The method of manufacturing a com:

iso

posite wheel structure which comprises as sennblmgr a plurality ot alternately arranged,

plies of body material and plies of rubber bonding material With the bonding plies projecting peri )herally beyond the body plies, subjecting;r the assemblage to heat and pressure and simultaneously shaping' the same to effect dishing of its peripheral portiom arranging' the projecting peripheral portions ot the bondinggr plies over the periphery of the assemblage as a whole to provide a cushioning shoulder, applying a facing layer of material embracing rubber` over the outer and inner faces of the assemblages and over the said shoulders to define the contour of the latter and confined the arranged projecting portions of the bonding plies, buildingr up a tread upon the walls of said cha1nber overlapping the outer sides of the walls, and subjecting the whole to a process or' vul vanization' to etlect intimate union of the component elements. 4

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY N. ATWOOD. in. s] 

